


End Game

by xikra1648



Series: There's Nothing Holding Me Back [9]
Category: Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Action, Adventure, Big Brother Yu, F/M, More characters to be added, More tags to be added, Phantom Thieves - Freeform, Rating will probably change as well, Romance, Teenage Drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 05:53:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13606938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xikra1648/pseuds/xikra1648
Summary: Things were already complicated enough, with the Phantom Thieves growing in numbers and popularity, and now you got yourself involved with Akechi.  To top things off, you spilled your identity as a Phantom Thief to your older brother, and after he recovered from shock he proceeded to explain just how complicated things could get when it came to Persona users.  Specifically, ones like he and Akira, who used multiple Personas.You were beginning to get the feeling everything you had been through so far was just the beginning.





	1. A Private Chat

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, here's the deal. When I started this, I was planning on it being a short series. Then it grew into the monster sized series it is, and if I kept it in that format it would end up being freakishly long. So, it's being turned into a multi-chapter story. The others are staying one-shots because there's a bunch of comments attached to them, along with Bookmarks I don't want people to lose. I also figured it'll be easier for people to follow as well. So, if you want, you can just subscribe to this and get notifications when there's an update. 
> 
> I'm hoping it'll put this higher on my 'to do' list too, that way it's not just a 'oh, I have to write a one-shot...I'll get to that' and more of an 'I have a story to finish, gotta do that.'

# There's Nothing Holding Me Back

## End Game

### A Private Chat

“What the hell, Gem?” Skull _immediately_ jumped on you as you met the others in the entrance to Mementos.  A bit hypocritical, considering he was _always_ late, but to his defense he was never _this_ late.

“Sorry, I got home late last night, and my brother was _determined_ to talk about it,” you explained, easily convincing those who didn’t know any better.  It wasn’t a lie, it just wasn’t the complete truth, and it was enough to convince Joker.

“The hell were you doing?” Skull questioned, stunned that you-the one that had her shit together-did something that warranted a lecture.  That was out of character for you.  You were just as much of an outcast and a misfit as the rest of them, but there was no denying you had more discipline than the rest of them combined.  That was why you fit into your roll so well, you kept them focused and wouldn’t let them deviate from the plan without good reason.

“Mostly avoiding contact with Miss President.”  Again, it wasn’t a lie.  You had to take a long way around because you caught Makoto as she followed you, trying to hide behind a thick volume of manga.  You figured it was a collection of three or four volumes, you had a few of those yourself, but what really caught your attention was the series itself, a shoujo known particularly for leaning heavily towards the unrealistic sex part of fictional romances.  Of course, the guy with no shirt on the cover probably gave _that_ away.  Either way, you ended up leaving the subway two stops late, got off, then hid in the crowd as you made your way back to the Central Station and activated the GPS on your phone.

“Tell me about it.  I swear she was stalking me when I went shopping,” Panther chimed in, just as irritated with dodging the girl as you were.  She had pulled the two of you aside, commenting on how odd it was that you ‘suddenly’ became friends, and all other kinds of nonsense.  Fine, you’d admit her suspicions were correct, but her reasoning was bullshit.  You and Ann became friends after Shiho tried to commit suicide, and almost succeeded.  Ann needed someone and, while you didn’t tell just anyone your entire story, it wasn’t a secret that you had been through some shit when you were just a kid.

Everybody heard about the kidnappings in Inaba, and one quick Google search would bring up the fact that _you_ were one of them.

“Trying to hide behind manga, right?” you replied, instantly changing the topic of conversation as you turned towards Panther.

“Yeah!  And it was even upside-down!” Panther exclaimed, both in exasperation and shock that someone could be _that_ bad at tailing a suspect.  Granted that was likely because the lot of you had become experts on stealth quickly, you had to if you wanted to _survive_ , but to be so bad you ducked behind a book that was upside-down?  Isn’t the Student Council President supposed to be smarter than that?

“We’ll figure out what to do about Nijima later,” Joker cut in, kicking himself off of the wall he was leaning back against and stepping forward to join the conversation, his hands still tucked into his pockets, “I finished up a few investigations, and we’ve got new targets.  They’re on the same floor, so we’re going to be splitting up into two teams.  _Be. Careful.”_

“Joker, we have an uneven number of people.  One team will be far weaker than the other,” Fox voiced his concerns, you could almost hear his brow furrowing behind his mask.

“Mona will be going with you, Panther, and Skull.  Gem and I will be working on our own,” Joker explained briefly, Mona nodding as he crossed his arms and rubbed his chin with his paw and closed his eyes, as if deep in thought.

“Yes, that makes sense.  Our sheer numbers and my experience will be able to handle anything in our path, and as the strongest fighters you and Gem will easily be able to match any Shadows you come across,” he mused before almost jumping as he suddenly jumped to attention and placed his paws on his hips and nodded, “Alright, it’s settled-“

“Where do you get off acting like you’re in charge?” Skull snapped, glaring down at the strange cat-like creature.

“Mona is the one that turns into a car and drives us around, and normally Joker or I drive.  Considering one of you is going to be driving this time, his opinion matters,” you pointed out the reasoning behind Mona’s reaction.  You didn’t expect anyone would actually argue with Joker, unless it was you or the idea was simply that _bad_ , but you weren’t about to stand for infighting.  Still, it was better to settle the arguments than try to demand cooperation.

“ _Tch._   Whatever.”

Getting those two to cooperate was like trying to mix oil and water.

Joker drove Mona to the floor you were trying to reach, two targets remained on this floor.  Mona and the others would be taking care of the two targets near the entrance, while you and Joker took on the targets further in.  Bets are, that was where the tougher Shadows were located, and while Panther and Fox needed practice and training, a gradual climb would be far better than a steep one.  You and Joker snuck through the long, wide corridors, ducking and dodging around Shadows, ambushing them when there was no other option.  You had to keep your strength up for the targets, they tended to be stronger than most of the Shadows in the area, and based on the investigations Joker had done, these people were particularly nasty.

You turned down a corridor, noticing a locked chest guarded by a Shadow at the end.  The two of you ducked behind the corner and peered around to spy on the Shadow, you were leaning back against the wall and Joker was kneeling in front of you as close to the wall as he could get.  Of course, that involved getting as close to _you_ as he could get, kneeling on one knee and placing one red-gloved hand on your thigh to balance himself as he kept himself on his toes, prepared to leap out of hiding at a moment’s notice.  Just _yesterday_ you would have thought nothing of him touching you like that.  Being a Phantom Thief involved getting close, you couldn’t count the number of times all of you had crawled through a vent or been crammed yourselves into a closet.  That was just part of staying hidden, and you couldn’t exactly spread out when you were trying to stay hidden.

That was before last night happened.  Now…

Joker looked up at you, checking to see if you were ready to strike, and you looked down at him and nodded.  He leapt out and ambushed the Shadow, you followed closely and struck the already surprised Shadow with a Kouga, hitting at its weakness.  A few more basic attacks and the Shadow was easily dealt with, and Joker immediately got to work on picking the lock on the chest.  You stood behind him, your new staff in hand as you leaned against it casually, keeping watch for any other Shadows.

“We should probably talk about last night, before it starts to complicate things,” you brought up in the solitude of Mementos.  It was likely the only chance the two of you would be able to talk alone, and it wasn’t exactly a subject you wanted the others to overhear, let alone know about.

Joker froze before going back to working on the large golden lock as he replied, “I’m not asking you out if that’s what-“

“No, that’s even more of a landmine than what we’ve already done.  Besides, I don’t even know if like you enough to date you,” you replied, turning to look over your shoulder at the leader, “You can’t tell me you want to ask me out.”

“You’re already a pain in my ass.  I can’t imagine how much worse things would get if we were dating,” Joker agreed, standing upright as he lifted the lid of the chest and pulled out a dagger about half as effective as his own.  Still, he could sell it for a few hundred yen so he tucked it into a spare sheath hidden under his coat with a practiced flip.

“So, we agree it was a one-time thing that was nothing but hormones and an inability to put our frustration to words,” you reasoned with a shrug.  Joker stopped to look down at you, his brow furrowed behind his mask as he noticed how impressive it was that you could take something like that and look at it from a purely logical perspective even when you were involved.  Weren’t girls your age supposed to be eternally in love with guys they had sex with?  Wasn’t that a huge part of _every_ crap movie his baby sister made him watch?

“How do you do that?” he had to know, “How do you just shut down and look at the facts?”

“Learned to do it when I was a kid.  My parents weren’t around a lot, and they weren’t exactly the best parents when they _did_ manage to stick around.  Plus, my family got…royally fucked by someone we thought we could trust, and ever since then I’ve never really let anyone get too close until I could figure them out,” you shrugged after you gave the purely honest confession.  To Joker, that put a lot of the pieces in place.

“Which is why I piss you off so much,” his lips curled into a wicked smirk as the two of you walked through the long corridor, turning a corner to see the subway rails lifting off of the ground and twirling around each other as they got closer and closer to the red and black vortex that would take the two of you to your first target.

“Excuse me?” you scoffed, your hair flipping over your shoulder you turned to look up at the Trickster so quickly, any faster and you would have had whiplash, “I’ll have you know I-“

“Can’t figure me out,” he cut you off as he stopped to face you, hands in his pockets as he bent slightly at the waist, so he could stare directly into your eyes that were lined by your black lace mask.  You leaned back a bit, trying to back yourself away from Joker’s confidant gaze and hide the fact that he was, in fact, right.  The fact that your confidence had abandoned you, mixed with that infernal smirk was still on his face and the fact that he was _right_ only pissed you off more.  If someone were to find the two of you, it would seem like the young man had caught you in a compromising position and sent you into a stuttering frenzy as you tried to covertly hide.

“You can’t figure me out either,” you quipped back, your lips turned in a pout as you made the accusation.  You didn’t have anything to actually base that accusation on, but when Joker’s smirk turned downwards you knew you were right, and the tables had turned.  While Joker’s lips were now turned into a ~~sinfully adorable~~ pout, yours were turned upward into a smirk.  It almost seemed, now, as if he was sulking as you confidently held your shoulders back and smirked up at him.

“That’s it, isn’t it?  I’m a mystery the great Phantom Thief Joker can’t figure out?” you teased, barely holding back the urge to snicker in amusement.

He stood upright, pulling away from you as he gazed down at you with firm gray eyes, otherwise hiding behind his mask, “Don’t get so cocky-“

“Why not?  You do it all the time.”

“Because this lack of understanding is effecting our ability to lead the team.”

He had a point, the main reason you tracked him down at Leblanc in the first place was to talk about that very problem in the first place, and from there figure out what was causing it.  From there you could either find a way to deal with it, or even solve the problem entirely.  You certainly weren’t expecting the conversation to become this… _easy_ , or natural, but you weren’t expecting to lose your virginity either.  The boy just seemed to turn your life into a series of unexpected surprises, generally something that someone like you would hate but…the predictable life was so _boring_.

“So, basically, we just need to get to know each other better because we’re paranoid freaks that need to know everything about everybody?” You phrased it like a joke, casually crossing your arms and shifting your weight so it was placed mainly on one leg, but you were serious.  If neither of you could figure the other out on your own, and the frustration caused was affecting the team, you were going to have to find other methods of figuring each other out.  Even if that meant spending more time together.

“Seems like it,” he agreed simply before turning to look at the portal to the target, “Well, shall we?”

“Yeah,” you answered simply as you turned towards the portal yourself, “We’ve got some ass to kick.”


	2. Books and Hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was a quiet day, life was going to be quiet for the next few days with the field trip coming up. You didn't know how you felt about quiet days, they were relaxing but they gave you the chance to actually think about things you rather wouldn't...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing too plot heavy, just prepping for the next plot heavy installation and setting some groundwork for the relationship between Rea and Yu, with some background Yu/Rise because they're adorable. Also filling the plot hole as to why Yu isn't jumping in and joining the Phantom Thieves, because that was bothering me.

# There's Nothing Holding Me Back

## End Game

### Books and Hopes

You were not looking forward to the field trip to the TV station, not in the _least_ , but it was better than anywhere else.  Well, maybe not, but your friends were going and that made up for it.  You were supposed to go straight home, make sure you get enough sleep for that damn field trip, but the world clearly had other plans.

“[Y/N], I didn’t expect to see you here,” Akechi smiled as he spotted you at the book store, picking up a few things to read as you spent the evening to yourself.  You had finished all of your homework during lunch and had until after the two-day field trip to finish the rest of your homework.  You felt safe enough taking the evening off, picking up a few books and manga to read on your evening off.  You had been looking at an American novel, a particularly trashy one featuring a woman in an early 19th century gown and a handsome man with his shirt mostly unbuttoned featured on the front cover.  Your attention was pulled away from the book as you spotted Akechi, and quickly tucked the book back onto the shelf.

You could _not_ let anyone find out about _this_ particular hobby.

“Hey, what’s up?” you stepped closer to the boy, but didn’t leave the store as he had just been outside and you hadn’t paid for your new books yet.

“Oh, I have some work to do, so I decided to rent a movie I could watch while I work,” Akechi held up the small white bag containing his rented DVD, “Truth be told, I’ll probably end up so focused on the movie that I won’t get anything done until it’s over.”

“That’s why you get movies you’ve seen a million times before.  That way you already know what the best parts are, and all the dialogue, so you know when to focus on the movie,” you advised, taking a few steps back into the bookstore as Akechi followed.  You made your way to the counter, you had enough books to at least entertain you for the evening, and paid for your new books.

“I’ll admit, I’ve never had the chance to see many movies more than once, let alone enough times to memorize them,” Akechi replied with a shy chuckle as you completed your purchase, taking the white plastic bag in hand as you stepped away from the counter.

“Yeah, but you’re a genius.  Shouldn’t take you as long as it does a normal person,” you teased in response, taking a turn to make your way further down Central Street and to the station.  Your home was arguably close enough to walk, but this time of day it was less exhausting to take the subway.

“Do you have time to get some tea?” his invitation was hopeful, and you were tempted, but you really should be getting home…

“No, I have a field trip the next two days, but I should have some time after,” you offered with a soft smile, tilting your head to the side as you looked up to the older boy.  You didn’t want to give him the idea you weren’t interested, not if you were planning on sticking around to get information about his investigation.

“Hm…I’m busy with the investigation, but I’ll message you when I have time,” Akechi replied, his expression a bit pensive as he tried to think about the next time he had some free time, once again smiling as you departed, “Be safe on your way home.”

“Thanks, you too,” you waved as best as you could as you parted ways, boarding your train and taking off towards home.  You texted your Gymnastics coach, making sure she knew about the field trip and double-checking you told her you wouldn’t be attending practice.  She replied with a cheery ‘have fun!’ and a few smiley faces and thumbs-up emojis.  She was always like that, part of the reason she was your favorite coach out of all your previous coaches.  Sure, practice was important, but so was _life_.

Your dancing coach was a bit different, but you made it clear that unless Rise needed you to help out for a concert, dancing was a casual hobby-unlike in your childhood.  Still, you’d deal with him as you needed to.

“No thievery today?” Yu teased when you got back, getting ready to start making dinner as he pulled out a knife to start chopping the green onions.  He looked up to make sure you shut the door before he asked the question, but he still asked.

“Are you asking to make conversation, or to be passively aggressive about it?” you replied, dropping your school bag on the kitchen table and making your way to the kitchen to wash your hands and help out, grabbing the pork to start cooking it.  You placed the pork on the frying pan, starting the gas stove before grabbing a few spices from the cabinet above.

“I’ll…I’m…it’s…I’m adjusting,” Yu admitted as he continued chopping vegetables, “I get why you’re doing it, but I’m still not thrilled that you’re going back to the Metaverse.”

“It’s not how we left it the last time, Yu,” you explained as you measured spices in your palm before sprinkling them into the pan, “If anything it’s even more screwed up.  It mirrors Shibuya almost exactly, and there’s this place called Mementos made up of _everyone’s_ distortions.  Not just that, but it’s focused on distorted desires, not just cognitive distortions in general, and the size of the palaces caused by these distortions, it’s bigger than anything I’ve seen…”

“You think there’s something behind it?” Yu asked as he grabbed another pan, dropping the chopped and diced vegetables into it and placing it on the stove, to wait until the pork was cooked a little more before starting the burner.

“Something was behind Inaba, even with how fucked Adachi was.  Whatever’s going on, it’s feeding off of _all_ of Shibuya, and even causing larger and more specific distortions,” you pointed out as you flipped the pork so it could cook on the other side, letting it cook fully without drying out, “Something has to be behind this-“

“By the sound of it, something worse than Inaba,” Yu stopped to look directly at you, his brow furrowed and stern as he spoke, “I know something needs to be done, but you can’t go throwing yourself into danger.  We almost died last time, and if we’re right about this new thing-“

“I’m not alone, our team is growing, and…” you stopped, this next topic was going to be a bit…tough to explain.  Well, maybe not to explain, but you didn’t want to upset Yu.  He did some amazing things, and he wasn’t stupid, but the learning curve wasn’t _nearly_ as steep in Inaba as it was in Shibuya.  To top things off, Akira was far more clever than Yu, a requirement of being a Trickster and thief.  Still, there was no good way to tell an adult that a teenager has surpassed them, the fact you were telling your own older brother that a teenage boy you spent a lot of time was better at something only they could do.

“ _And_?”

Clearly you weren’t away with trying to explain it.

“The learning curve necessary has made _sure_ we’re getting stronger at a faster rate, and Akira has a natural talent for switching Personas at just the right time, applying their skills, and making them stronger at a rate and level I don’t think you ever reached.  I don’t think you _had_ to,” you tried to explain gently, but you heaved a sigh as you realized that wasn’t about to happen, “We can handle this, and Akira and I are keeping tabs on the others and making sure they train as necessary.”

Yu was familiar with the reasons why he and Rise couldn’t help, not only did the situation call for different tactics, but it required pulling strength from doing and being things that he wasn’t sure he could do.  He liked being part of a community, helping people, pulling the community together.  You, and the other Phantom Thieves, were actively rebelling against…practically everything.  You had always wanted to be set apart from the rest, wanted to just be yourself, but you had a kind heart and wanted to help people as well.  You just…never fit in with the rest of society enough to do so.

To be honest, even with all the stress of being a Phantom Thief, Yu hadn’t seen you this happy in a very long time.  He hadn’t seen you with this many people vying for your attention because you were _friends_ and _wanted_ to spend time together… _ever._   As unhealthy as it seemed, this was best for you, and it was best for you for him and Rise to stay out of it.

He just wished you’d bring your Phantom Thief friends around, if only so he could actually _meet_ them.

“Just…be careful, alright?  No matter what you do, it’s still dangerous.”  He finished chopping the vegetables and put them into a frying pan of their own,

“I know, I know, I promise.  We’re taking the next few days off for a field trip anyway, so you can untwist your panties for the next two or three days.”  You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at your brother’s worrying, even though you knew he had a good reason for it.  He had a _damn_ good reason for it.

“Oh yeah, the career thing, where you going?” he asked, changing the topic to a more…normal one.

“Ann wants to go to the TV station, so we’re all going there.  I don’t think the rest of us actually care enough to pick a destination.”  You shrugged as you took the cooked pork off of the pan and over to the counter, grabbing chopsticks and a knife to carefully cut the hot food.  You briefly reached over to start the rice cooker before getting to slicing.

“Something smells good,” Rise greeted with a smile as she shut the front door behind her, looking tired after a long day of recording.  She walked over to the bar on the opposite side of the counter where you were, almost collapsing into one of the stools and resting her chin on her folded arms.  She always stayed out of the kitchen when you and your brother were cooking, the two of you had been at it so long you could just move around each other like long-term professionals in a busy kitchen.  She would help as asked, but it was best for her to just stay out of your way.

“Yeah, we’re almost done,” Yu smiled as he left the stove briefly, leaning over the counter to give Rise a gentle kiss on her head, causing the singer to smile through her exhaustion.  Considering your childhood, the examples of love and a relationship that you and your brother had growing up, it was nice to see Yu had done the exact _opposite_ of your parents.  You still weren’t sure you would be capable of that.  Not when you got the worst of your parents’… _attention_.

Still…you could _hope_.


End file.
